One of the most interesting albeit confusing aspects of Minecraft is the relationship between redstone and redstone-related blocks, like the observer. You can create some rather useful machinations, both simple and elaborate. For example, you can access the top of a tall structure pretty quickly by creating a working elevator or build a farm that automatically collects sugarcane. Essentially, you can use observers to automate some of your chores in Minecraft.
Minecraft: How to Craft an Observer
[Updated June 21, 2024 – Rewrote and clarified info, as well as added images for context]
Luckily, the power and utility of an observer isn’t all that tough to craft in Minecraft. In fact, most of the materials you need are pretty easy to get. All you need is:
- x6 Cobblestone
- x2 Redstone Dust
- x1 Nether Quartz
Out of the three materials, the Nether Quartz is the only ingredient that’s hard to come by, relative to the others. You’ll need to build a Nether portal and mine nether quartz from nether quartz ore. The nether quartz ore looks very similar to netherrack, only with white flecks of white quartz.
As for redstone dust, I recommend looking in caves. The blocks look similar to coal, but with red flecks instead of black. You can mine it with any pickaxe, but using an iron pickaxe will yield more, and you’re going to need plenty for creating multiple observers. Also, pistons are commonly used with observers and those too need redstone dust.
Now, once you have the necessary materials, make your way to the nearest crafting table. You can’t make an observer inside your inventory.
Place the cobblestone along the top and bottom rows, the nether quartz on the right, and the redstone dust in the remaining slots. You now have a single observer!
Minecraft: How to Use an Observer
Observers have two sides that carry out its function: one with a red dot and another that resembles a face. I’ll call the side with the red dot the back and the side with the face will be the front from here on out.
The back is where you connect the machination you want to build, whereas the front side “observes” the state of a block it’s facing. If the front side detects a change, it’ll emit a redstone signal and power the contraption connected to the back.
To demonstrate, we’ll build a very small automatic sugarcane farm. Start by building a cross, but one block being mud (for the sugarcane) and the center being filled with water. You’ll have a small pool started.
Now cover the water with three blocks: the first being any block you want, the second being a piston facing the sugarcane, and the top block being the observer. You want the front of the observer facing the sugarcane, too.
Finally, place a block behind the piston and throw some redstone dust on top of it. When the sugarcane grows tall enough to interfere with the observer, it’ll activate the piston and break the sugarcane stalk. Now you’ve got yourself an automated farm!
